The 2026 MFA Thesis season showcases the works of graduating students in BU’s Graphic Design, Painting, Sculpture, Print Media & Photography, and Visual Narrative graduate programs
Every Spring, BU School of Visual Arts hosts group exhibitions showcasing the work of graduating students in the undergraduate and graduate programs across professional galleries at BU, such as BU Art Galleries’ Faye G., Jo, and James Stone Gallery and 808 Gallery, CFA’s Gallery 5 and Commonwealth Gallery, and satellite shows across SVA’s facilities, the BU campus, and beyond.
The 2026 MFA Thesis Exhibitions at BU School of Visual Arts mark a transition—a launching point between graduate study and sustained professional artistic practice.
“This work is shaped not only by artistic development, but by the personal commitments and difficult decisions that have made this moment possible—whether involving relocation, family, employment, or other responsibilities,” says Marc Schepens, Director of BU School of Visual Arts and Senior Lecturer in Art, Painting.
“Graduate study demands both sacrifice and resolve, while providing the time, space, community, and mentorship necessary to develop a distinct artistic voice and expand a lasting practice. The work presented by SVA’s MFA students in Graphic Design, Painting, Sculpture, Print Media & Photography, and Visual Narrative reflects both the rigor of their training and their engagement with the world around them and the worlds within them. Developed through two years of sustained dialogue with faculty, peers, and visiting critics, these practices are grounded in the College of Fine Arts, shaped by the broader artistic community of Boston, and informed by ongoing engagement with art historical precedents as well as the evolving discourse of contemporary art. The exhibition serves as a bridge to the wider art world, where these artists will continue refining their voices, questioning, and sustaining a lifelong commitment to artmaking.”
The 2026 Boston University School of Visual Arts MFA Thesis Exhibitions and events are free and open to the public.
Graduate study demands both sacrifice and resolve, while providing the time, space, community, and mentorship necessary to develop a distinct artistic voice and expand a lasting practice. The work presented by SVA’s MFA students in Graphic Design, Painting, Sculpture, Print Media & Photography, and Visual Narrative reflects both the rigor of their training and their engagement with the world around them and the worlds within them.
THESIS SEASON
DATES, VENUE, EXHIBITING STUDENTS
MFA Graphic Design
Friday, April 3 – Saturday, April 18
808 Gallery • 808 Commonwealth Avenue
Gallery hours: Tuesdays – Saturdays, 11am to 5pm
A reception will be held on Friday, April 3, from 5 – 7pm. Free, open to the public
MFA GRAPHIC DESIGN EXHIBITING STUDENTS
Kira Chen • Ruijie Chen • Rachel Coffua • Valeria Diaz • Nickola Getchevski • Madison Hoppler • Zhiyu Huang • Luna Jing • Vibhasa Kanthamraj • Christin Kim • Colin Ladd • Helen (Qingyang) Liu • Yingxuan Liu • Erica Pritchett • Chunyue Shen • Adams Staples • Sarah Sutton • Ziyu Wang • Yunxi (Lucy) Ye • Zeyu Yin • Andi Zhang • Yuhan (Joann) Zhou • Haoteng Zhu
MFA Sculpture and MFA Print Media & Photography
Friday, April 3 – Saturday, April 18
Faye G., Jo, and James Stone Gallery • 855 Commonwealth Avenue
Gallery hours: Tuesdays – Saturdays, 11am to 5pm
A reception will be held on Friday, April 3, from 5 – 7pm. Free, open to the public
MFA SCULPTURE EXHIBITING STUDENTS
Paola Dartigues • Kal L • Noelle Ventura
MFA PRINT MEDIA & PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITING STUDENTS
Jamison Cloud • Chuan Liu • Rory McNamara • AJ Puplava • Vic Ferreira Sardinha
MFA Painting
Tuesday, April 28 – Sunday, May 17
Faye G., Jo, and James Stone Gallery • 855 Commonwealth Avenue
Gallery hours: Tuesdays – Saturdays, 11am to 5pm
OPEN DURING BU’S COMMENCEMENT WEEKEND
A reception will be held on Friday, May 1, from 5 – 7pm. Free, open to the public
MFA PAINTING EXHIBITING STUDENTS
Steven Baldino • Hayoung Cheon • Scout Curtin • Samantha Hayslett • Leah Nashel • Kasey Ott • Raquel Philippe • Alessandra Pozzuoli • Anna Pugh
CURATED BY
MA Art History student Emily Nootbaar (CAS’26)
MFA Visual Narrative Book Talk
Friday, May 1 • 3 – 5pm
Howard Thurman Center, Room 104 • 808 Commonwealth Avenue
Can’t make it in person? The MFA Visual Narrative Book Talk will be available to watch via Zoom!
MFA VISUAL NARRATIVE PARTICIPATING STUDENTS
Katherine Blancha • P. Christopher Capp • Julia Grace Diaz • Marina Hor-Meyll Lemos • Caleb J. Murphy • Constanza Osuna • Julian Paupaw • Emma Varteresian • Runqi Yang
BFA MA Art Education
Thursday, April 23 – Saturday, May 9
Gallery 5 • 855 Commonwealth Avenue (5th floor)
Gallery hours: Accessible during CFA’s building hours
Monday – Friday, 7am – 8:30pm
Saturday – Sunday, 9am – 8:30pm
A reception will be held on Friday, May 1, from 5 – 7pm. Free, open to the public
EXHIBITING STUDENTS
Julia Pappania • Yanfuan (Mary) Yang • Yaming Jiang • Sueyon Ji • Eli Siegel • Corinne Nichols • Yeji Kim
Alongside the MFA Thesis Exhibitions, the MA Art Education students install the artwork created by their students from Boston-area schools.
Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized institution of higher education and research. With more than 34,000 students, it is the fourth-largest independent university in the United States. BU consists of 17 schools and colleges, along with a number of multi-disciplinary centers and institutes integral to the University’s research and teaching mission. In 2012, BU joined the Association of American Universities (AAU), a consortium of 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada. Learn more at bu.edu.
Established in 1954, Boston University College of Fine Arts (CFA) is a community of artist-scholars and scholar-artists who are passionate about the fine and performing arts, committed to diversity and inclusion, and determined to improve the lives of others through art. With programs in Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts, CFA prepares students for a meaningful creative life by developing their intellectual capacity to create art, shift perspective, and think broadly. CFA offers a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs, as well as a range of online degrees and certificates. Learn more at bu.edu/cfa.
Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts prepares students to think seriously, to see critically, to make intensely, and to act with creative agency in the contemporary world. The School of Visual Arts merges the intensive studio education of an art school with the opportunities of a large urban university, and is committed to educating the eye, hand, and mind of the artist. With rigorous graduate and undergraduate fine art programs that are rooted in studio practice, CFA School of Visual Arts provides highly motivated students with programs in the bedrock disciplines, of the fine arts coupled with a vast array of electives and liberal arts opportunities. Learn more at bu.edu/cfa/visual-arts
